


Ways and Means

by scy



Category: Lucifer (Comic)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-05 14:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you need to find someone there is always a way, and if you have a sense of them, so much the better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ways and Means

**Author's Note:**

> This is one possible way that Mazikeen found her way to Lux after Lucifer sent her away from Hell.

Mazikeen went looking for him almost as soon as she reformed on the mortal plane. Had she looked more human, it would have bee nothing to find transportation and the means to contact him immediately, but she had never been of Adam's stock, nor did she have any regrets on that score, so it was a disguise that was her first order of business.

In Hell her appearance was something to display proudly, but she knew that mortals often valued physical beauty over more telling twists of character so she had to stay hidden.

There were many kinds of being living on the fringes of civilization and some with less sense than bravado. Not long after she found her way to a real city, she'd added a hooded shirt to her wardrobe and had some of the colored paper that counted as currency. Now that she had the means to travel, she needed to know the way to her lord's side.

When he'd ruled in Hell, Lucifer had let her serve him. One of her duties had been to report directly to him on matters that could affect the balance of power. Although there was a triumvirate in place, that didn't mean that Beelzebub and Azazel weren't continually seeking a way to gain some fraction of superiority over the First Monarch, and their plotting only varied in the degree and how confident they were in their schemes.

Mazikeen had not offered to listen for word of an uprising, but when she brought such news to his ears, Lucifer did not rebuke her for the presumption. Even so, she didn't take the tiniest of liberties for granted. Given his history and personality it was difficult to get close enough for anything more than tolerance, and even that wasn't a guarantee. There had been many opportunities to observe how much he would allow and of whom. From the beginning he had been willing on occasion, to explain himself to her when she brooked a question, but she didn't make the mistake of thinking that his indulgence of her was endless.

Now she sought to find him even when he had told her that she couldn't follow him. The part of her that quailed at any disobedience to her sovereign lord argued that to go any further was treason. A more pragmatic observation was that she looked for him in order make the journey on her own.

Such thoughts of small acts of independence were departures from her comfortable role as his servant, but she hoped that he would allow her minor transgression and appreciate that such acts were only ever done out of necessity.

There had been no one who had the inclination to teach her the more refined magic that powered the universe's most subtle currents, but Mazikeen had not survived ages as one of the Lilim in exile without learning to tap the elements for her own use. She didn't tame their flow but shifted their path and drew on their strength.

To find Lucifer she needed little more than the most basic of components and something that he had worn for long enough that the material remembered its master. She had such a scrap and carried it with her. If she'd let herself have a doubt, she would have worried that there was only enough cloth to for one attempt and that if it failed, she would have no way of finding Lucifer. But Mazikeen rarely allowed herself to think of the worst possibility first, unless it was what she planned for someone else and so she gathered the ingredients and found a place where she wouldn't be disturbed while casting the spell.

The cloth was the base so she laid it down first. Then she pulled out her knife and sliced her palm. As the blood splashed onto the cloth, she thought of her master, fixed his face firmly in her mind. When there was an irregular stain on the cloth, she spat on it to seal the magic, and said his name.

"The Morningstar." Just by saying his name in conjunction with the spell, she invoked all that he represented, and the cloth caught fire. When the ashes had stopped smoking she caught them up and let them fall as they chose. They floated down and came to rest in the shape of a word. It was a city that she had never visited, though she had heard the name. With a destination identified, Mazikeen could put her face into the wind and listen for the imprints he left in those whose lives took them near him. When she caught a series of memories tinged with an certain attention to the cynical, she set about setting her feet on the path in that direction.

Transportation she found, was either too clean or too inconsistent. She preferred walking or riding on horseback, but had to resort to something more modern at times. Even though her lord had decided that he no longer wanted to rule in Hell, she hoped that he hadn't given in to all the advances of the age.

Lord Morningstar might have upset the Heavenly Host when he put an end to stagnate order of a millennia, but there were some standards that could use a minor upset or two, and Mazikeen knew that she needed to be at his side when Lucifer made his move. Whether he would accept her renewed vow of service was uncertain, but the gesture was a sincere one, and because it had great meaning to her, he might allow her to make it.

After a journey that took her over borders and water, she arrived in a city that claimed to be in the graces of the Host, but that indulged vices so freely that they would doubt any angel that brought salvation without a price tag. She had no illusions about how costly entrance into Heaven could be and she was glad that passage into that realm was not her final destination.

Mazikeen found the place that bore his signature at the moments when the sun was at its zenith and the heat plastered heavy cloth to her skin. She would have preferred to cast off her hood, but in such a public place, the chances of being delayed in the completion of her mission were greater if she walked unconcealed. So she endured the heat and pulled her hood further over her face as she ascended the steps to the building's entrance. A sign advised her to return at another time, but she knew that a second glance could give one an opening.

Past grime-clouded windows she couldn't see more than tables with chairs flipped up on top of them. It looked deserted, empty of life and promise, but that second glance caught on a tease of something moving inside.

The figure was barely visible, but more solid than the shadows, seemingly commanding them to give way without a word.

Clenching one hand, Mazikeen let it fall heavily upon the window until the shape turned toward her. At first she wasn't sure they were going to acknowledge an uninvited visitor, but Mazikeen continued knocking; the sound a demand and a plea to answer.

At last the door gave way, swinging in, the locks that had kept it shut under her pounding having disappeared like the smoke that billowed through the air. She breathed it in and caught the scent as though she needed to imprint it on her mind.

"Come in, Mazikeen," said a voice she had chosen to obey and love.

Recognition brought her feet over the threshold and immediately, she went to one knee in front of and bent her head. He had allowed her to enter, but she did not speak until the motioned for her to rise.

The interior of the building was proof that the outside only served to deceive anyone passing by into thinking that there was nothing of interest inside. While nothing gleamed with the gaudy brightness of Effrul, it encouraged one to find a seat and settle for a restful spell.

Lucifer was standing behind the bar mixing drinks as though the spirits were combustible liquids that would ignite if the wrong combination was formed.

"On your feet, Mazikeen, that pose is somewhat subservient for a daughter of Lilith, and I doubt it's comfortable." When he beckoned her closer a second time, Mazikeen approached and carefully hoisted herself onto a barstool.

"Now, Mazikeen I can make assumptions as to why you've presented yourself at my door ,but I would like to hear your reasons."

She sat up straighter and he made a flicking gesture at her hood.

"There's no need for that here."

Looking around, Mazikeen saw no sign of anyone else.

"My employees are intuitive enough to to take a hint," Lucifer assured her, and Mazikeen pushed back the hood, relieved to feel air on her face again.

"That's better. So, I released you from my service and rather than pursue a life of frivolity and act according to your own desires, you've decided to find me again."

As he seemed to be saying most of what she had thought, Mazikeen nodded, keeping her eyes on the bar's polished surface. "I swore to sherve heou ngy rroahd, and I askhh that I vhe allowed to szhtay in heour shervize."

When he didn't answer immediately she dared to raise her head. His expression was as was the norm, inscrutable when he wished it to be and she didn't know if he was considering her request or simply waiting for the right opportunity to send her away.

"Ngy Rroahd?"

Apparently still considering how best to respond, he turned to pour with great focus until the mixture reached a certain point. While she couldn't discern any visible difference, Lucifer lifted the glass and tasted it critically before nodding slightly in satisfaction.

"A personal favorite, and one that I invented," he said as he placed the glass on the bar.

"You're set upon this course."

"Yehkhhh."

"Very well, on this date, Mazikeen of the Lilim in exile, do you pledge your service unto me?"

"Yehkhhh."

"We could go through the business of eternal faithfulness, but I think that your presence here makes that a superfluous gesture."

Lifting the glass he took a sip and then passed it to her.

Resting her lips where his had touched, Mazikeen held his gaze and drank.

As she lowered the glass, Lucifer reached out and unmade it. "No need to leave such declarations sitting around, I find the comments of bystanders rarely add anything to the occasion."

"Now that you're here, perhaps you'd like a tour."

Mazikeen shook her head.

"Or you can find your way around. When you're satisfied, let me know and I'll find something for you to do." Not one to give others a chance to disagree when it would conflict with his own plans, he turned and moved to the piano and began to play.

Knowing herself to be accepted as part of his household, Mazikeen bowed and set about learning every inch of their domain.


End file.
